System and method for device address assignment in an alarm system using interactive address assignment for faster commissioning

ABSTRACT

The Commissioning phase is usually the most Time/Labor intensive phase in the Fire Safety System life cycle as the process involves referring to the Building floor plan document (as provided by the Installer) and creation of Areas/Zones and carefully assigning each fire device (viz. Smoke/Heat detectors, MCP etc.) to the corresponding zones in the Panel configuration software to configure the Fire Panel. The overall process easily spans for multiple days based on the Building network complexity. The present invention provides a system, apparatus and method for rapid commissioning by providing a graphical interface in which device addresses can be uniquely allocated using an interactive screen. This avoids double address faults which can be time consuming to identify and rectify. Geographic information of the devices can also be identified and incorporated using the interactive screen.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/508,618, filed Jul. 11, 2019, and claims the benefit of EuropeanPatent Application No. 18182879.9 filed Jul. 11, 2018, the disclosure ofwhich is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present invention relates to a system and method for device addressassignment in an alarm system, such as a fire alarm system usinginteractive address assignment for faster commissioning. This is in thetechnical field of fire systems and more particularly the activation ofsensor, detector and warning devices in a fire system.

BACKGROUND

Alarm systems, such as fire detection systems are generally known. Suchsystems are typically based upon the use of a number of peripheraldevices, such as fire detectors or proximity detectors, dispersedthroughout a building, and at least one warning device that alertsoccupants of the building to the presence of a fire. While each firedetector could be connected to its own warning device, fire detectorsare typically connected to a common monitoring panel. This is usefulbecause of the need to send notice of any detected fire to a centralmonitoring station. The often referred to as a control panel, may belinked to higher level systems such as to a fire department computer orcentral monitoring station.

The use of a common monitoring panel requires that a connection beestablished and maintained between the panel and each fire detector andeach warning device. In the past, the connection was established byinstalling at least two wires between each fire detector and themonitoring panel and between each warning device and the monitoringpanel. This provided a direct physical connection for each device to thecommon monitoring panel.

More recent systems have relied upon physical bus systems to connectdevices to the central monitoring panel and/or radio systems where datasignals rather than specific wires are used to identify peripheraldevices when commissioning a system.

Whichever type of central monitoring panel system is employed thereremains a fundamental and time-consuming issue on installation andcommissioning, this is the need to give the signals from peripheraldevices feeding into a control system an identified meaning.Commissioning is the activity of converting installed hardware into afunctioning system to perform a given task, such as fire detection andreporting or intruder detection and reporting.

To illustrate the commissioning issue an incoming peripheral devicesignal in an installed system may be on, say, inputs 1 of 16 in thecontrol panel but the relevance of the signal on this basis alone islimited. This is made more complex with bus systems where devices mayeach report on a common bus using a multi-digit identification code. Assuch an incoming signal may indicate, for example, that smoke has beendetected, but where is another matter. Methods of overcoming this can beto visit each peripheral and manually record its complex identifier sothat it can be recognised and the given a meaning in the centralmonitoring panel such as by means of allocating a system address,alternatively meanings can be assigned at the central monitoring panellevel and each peripheral can be re-assigned an identifier. The largerthe installation the more significant is the requirement to identifywhich device may be providing a signal to a central monitoring panel ormay require reception of a signal from a central monitoring panel.

Whatever the activation process by which a peripheral is integrated in away that gives its communications meaning in an alarm system, theactivation is complex and hence with current methods time consuming anderror prone. Common errors are the assigning of more than one identifieror address to a given peripheral and/or assigning the same address tomultiple peripherals. These errors can be hard to detect and timeconsuming to rectify. What is needed is, to an end user, a less complexsystem, apparatus and method for activating peripherals in an alarmsystem. An end user in this context is a commissioning engineer whotransforms an installed set of hardware into a functioning alarm system.

THE INVENTION

The present invention provides:

An alarm system installed in a region to be monitored, the alarm systemcomprising:

-   -   a central monitoring panel,        -   the panel having a graphical interface for displaying and            optionally inputting information,    -   a plurality of peripheral devices in communication with the        panel;        -   the devices being in a plurality of locations in the region;        -   each device being identified by the central monitoring panel            by means of an identifier with respect to its location,    -   the panel being configured to communicate the status of one or        more of the devices, such as to a user of the control panel or        to a central monitoring station for the purpose of providing        alarm system functionality and    -   wherein the location of the devices in the region is provided on        a plan;    -   characterised in that:        -   the graphical interface is configured to provide a display            of the devices and their status, such as whether they are in            communication with the panel and if they are providing an            alarm or proving a signal indicating a user has prompted the            device to provide a test signal;    -   the graphical interface being further configured to enable a        user to associate devices when displayed graphical interface        with devices on the plan so as to activate the functionality of        the device in the alarm system so as to display device activity        (such as an alarm or test signal) information with respect to        the device location on the plan.

The Commissioning phase is usually the most Time/Labor intensive phasein the Fire Safety System life cycle as the process involves referringto the Building floor plan document (as provided by the Installer) andcreation of Areas/Zones and carefully assigning each device (viz.Smoke/Heat detectors, MCP etc.) to the corresponding zones in the Panelconfiguration software to configure the control panel. The overallprocess easily spans multiple days based on the Building networkcomplexity. The present invention has the advantage that it allows thisprocess to be carried out interactively in a graphical interface andgreatly speeds up commissioning. This is in contrast to current systemswhere there is no standard method that allows a Commissioning Engineerto quickly assign device addresses to all the devices involved in thefire system network.

In the present invention the alarm system may be a fire alarm system ora security alarm system or a combined system. A fire alarm system ispreferred as this provides a wide variety of device sensor types and ahigh likelihood of confusion with more evident safety implications ifincorrectly configured. For example, incorrect commissioning mayallocate an alarm device location in an incorrect location and thelocation of a fire. Similarly with a warning device, where an alertsignal may be provided in the wrong part of a building when the signalfrom the device is allocated to an incorrect part of the plan. The alarmsystem of the present invention may be installed in a region to bemonitored, that is a defined geographic region, for example within agiven building or geographic location not extending beyond tens ofmeters.

In the present invention a control panel is preferably (micro)computer-controlled equipment which acts as a hub for processing signalsto and from, i.e. communicating with, peripheral, devices for thepurposes of controlling and monitoring the alarm system.

In the present invention the graphical interface may be provided by anattached computer, such as a laptop, by a separate visual display unitprovided with suitable signals by the panel, or most preferably by avisual display unit integrated within the panel itself. This has theadvantage that the configuration display set on commissioning can beseen directly by an end user when trying to identify in which part ofthe region, as identifiable on the plan (110, 510), for example whichroom in a building, a given peripheral device has been activated.

In the present invention a peripheral device is a device which provideslocalised functions for an alarm system. Such localised functionsinclude detector functions such as: smoke detectors, heat detectors,glass break detectors, movement detectors, proximity sensors. Suchlocalised functions include output functions such as: lighting,combustion suppression and alarm functions.

The status of a peripheral device refers to whether it is actively orpassively performing its function, for example, whether a smoke detectoris detecting smoke, sending a test signal or is waiting to detect smokeor whether an annunciator is sending out a message or waiting to sendout a message. Device activity information refers to which of theseactivities is being performed or whether the device is, for the purposesof the panel, non-functional, i.e. an indication of inactivity orunrecognized signal output, such an unrecognised status code for a giventype of device.

In the present invention a plan refers to a depiction of a geographicarea such as in the form of a map. The plan is preferably displayed onthe graphical interface. The plan will typically be prepared usingarchitectural drawings, such as provided as a BIM, or by mapping out abuilding so as to provide a two or three-dimensional depiction of theregion. A three-dimensional depiction is preferred as this helps removeconfusion on commissioning since a device attached to a wall or floor isunlikely to be a smoke alarm and a device attached to a floor isunlikely to be a door- or window-opening alarm, as examples. This helpsidentify errors quickly.

The present standard process involves adding a list of fire devices(Sensors/Modules) followed by assigning of device address for each ofthose devices added. In this approach, there is always a possibility ofassigning duplicate address to a fire device (Sensor/Module) due tohuman error. Therefore, the present invention in providing a display ofthe devices preferably only displays each device once and does notpermit duplication and in particular does not allow address duplication.

The present invention allows the Commissioning Engineer to refer to thedevices on the digital/physical building floor plan to easily assign adevice address based on the intended assignment of meaning to the devicefunction in the system and preferably also the assignment of a deviceaddress in association with a device marked/assigned on the plan, andmost preferably such that device status is indicated on a graphicalinterface representation (510) of the plan so that its location can beconfirmed on commissioning and the geographic location of its activitycan be readily assimilated, such as in an emergency situation. To thisend, device status is indicated on a graphical interface representation(510) of the plan is preferably be means of a graphic at a position onthe plan which represents the device location in the region presented onthe plan.

The interactive screen of the graphical interface preferably displaysthe available device addresses in the alarm system in the form of a gridview. From this the Commissioning Engineer can assign a required (forexample an easily assimilated number, device address by simultaneouslyreferring to the (floor) plan depicting installed devices. For example,the engineer may tap a series of available addresses shown on theinteractive screen to allocate those addresses to a list or category ofdevices also displayed in the screen. Those address will then beassociated with the devices and no longer be available for associationwith other devices. Similar actions with keyboard, mouse, trackball orcursor and options, if less preferred.

Preferably this assignment process involves the Engineer making thedevice produce a test signal, preferably by the engineer beingphysically located with the graphical interface proximate the device.The plan is preferably also displayed on the interactive screen of thegraphical interface and associations are made between the deviceaddresses and the peripheral devices at plan locations by means ofdragging and dropping identifiers for those items, wherein the systemthen forms an association between the items for the purpose of providingalarm system functionality. Tapping the a. display or clicking a mouseare also option. For example, should an alarm signal be received using agiven device address then an alarm indicium may be displayed on thecontrol panel so as to geographically locate the source of the alarm forthe commissioning engineer or an eventual end user to see.

In the present invention systems and methods disclosed herein canretrieve building information modelling data for a region from anindustrial foundation classes (IFC) file and can load the correspondingbuilding information modelling file or the floor plan of the regionreferenced therein onto the control panel graphical interface orseparate graphical interface—to serve as the plan of the presentinvention, preferably where the graphical interface is a user's mobiledevice or a mobile application running thereon. The building informationmodelling data can include metadata for devices installed in the regionand architectural and construction details of the region. Systems andmethods disclosed herein can also identify a user's (such as thecommissioning engineer holding the graphical interface in the form of aportable device in radio communication with the panel) current locationfrom a compass or magnetometer sensor of the mobile device, receive userinput identifying configuration data for the one or more devices in theregion, such as the address or simply aest signal of the one or moredevices, collect magnetic sensor location data or global positioningsystem data to wirelessly locate one or more devices in the region basedon geo-magnetic positioning or global positioning, map all of thecollected and received data to the building information modelling fileor the floor plan to create the three-dimensional floor map of theregion that identifies the location of the devices in the region, andstore the building information modelling file or the floor plan with themapped data thereon in a memory device either locally on the graphicalinterface device or remotely on a cloud system or a cloud server. The isenables a user with the graphical interface, when in a mobile format(140,142) to physically navigate the region to view and interact withdevices, such as to provide test signals.

Once the data acquisition process is complete or whilst it is ongoing,systems and methods disclosed herein can receive via the graphicalinterface input from a user to associate a detected position of a devicewith an address. Preferably this occurs by activation of a device, thedevice then being recognised by the control panel and then automaticallyassociated with a position on the plan corresponding to the position ofthe data acquisition device. Therefore, a Commissioning Engineer, onwalking through an installation, for example room to room, can identifyindividual devices and automatically, or by manual selection, associatethose devices with an address of the device which is recognised by thecontrol panel. This greatly facilitates commissioning and in particularreduces mistakes as the complex address of a device can be automaticallypresented to a user either for further automatic association with ageographic position or by selective association by user input simply bythe user walking through the building for the data acquisition device,such as a laptop computer or mobile phone with suitable app acting asthe graphical interface of the invention.

Whilst the system may be preferably automatic in situations where aplurality of devices is identified in a given room (such as identifiedby the building information model file) user input may be prompted toresolve potential ambiguities. In addition, or in the alternative, whengeo-magnetic positioning or global positioning (GPS) data have highdegrees of error, i.e. show an error beyond the threshold, such asvariations of more than 2 m from a predicted location (for example wherethey would indicate that the user is standing in the middle of a wall)then the user can also be prompted to resolve potential ambiguities andmanually associate the device address displayed on the graphicalinterface with a given plan position.

For example, systems and methods disclosed herein can generate anddisplay on a user interface of the mobile device a list of devices whichhave been detected by the control panel, receive user input to selectone of the devices on the list, generate and display on the userinterface of the mobile device an interactive three-dimensional floormap that identifies the location of the device with the address, andgenerate and output visual guidance on the interactive three-dimensionalfloor map to assist the user in navigating from the current location tothe selected one of the device, for example, by displaying on theinteractive three-dimensional floor map clear visual signs identifyingthe devices having a given status, thereby saving the user time inlocating the devices. This greatly speeds up navigation by acommissioning engineer of an unfamiliar building and the location of adevice, which may be relatively small compared to the size of a room,which particularly when under construction they have much wiring andmany devices visually evident. In addition, systems and methodsdisclosed herein can also generate and display on the user interface ofthe mobile device a list of valid addresses that can be assigned to theselected one of the devices but no allow an given address to beassociated with more than one device so as to avoid the establishedproblem of double address faults, for example, by identifying allavailable valid addresses for the selected one of the devices based onthe position of the selected one of the devices in a loop network ofwhich the selected one of the devices is a part and optionally do soshowing their position on the plan.

It is to be understood that the devices as disclosed and describedherein can include devices that are part of an alarm system such: as afire alarm system, having devices such as smoke or heat detectors, astrobe device, a manual call point, anunciators, and any relevant IoTdevices; or as a security alarm system, having devices such as glassbeak detectors, door and window opening detectors PIR devices, alarmsand any relevant IoT devices; as would be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art as part of such alarm systems.

In accordance with disclosed embodiments, systems and methods disclosedherein can use geo-magnetic positioning or global positioning systemreading to provide the user with the accurate location of the deviceswith accuracy of less than, for example, 2 meters. For example, systemsand methods disclosed herein can collect magnetic sensor data toidentify a unique magnetic fingerprint associated with a device in aregion and map the pattern, that is, the geo-magnetic position, to abuilding information model (BIM) file or a floor plan of the region toidentify the location of the device in the region. Furthermore, thelocation of the devices can be digitally stored in a memory device,either locally on the mobile device or remotely on a cloud system or acloud server so that the location can be recalled on demand and reliedupon for location accuracy. This is particularly useful when the plan inelectronic form, such as suitable for display (510) is communicatedshowing relevant graphics/indicia to a central control panel or fireservice to which the system can be attached. This rapidly allows supportpersonal, such as firefighters to understand the location and extent ofalert as well as the plan, such a floor plan of a building.Communication may be automatic and in an established graphical formatsuch as pdf, tiff, jpeg format, the communication may be by e-mail,using established communication routes and sources increasedcompatibility with existing external systems.

The control panel may be coupled to the devices via a number ofcommunication media. For example, the control panel may be connected toat least some devices, such as sensors, enunciators and warning devicesvia a wired communication loop and a corresponding communication module.Similarly, the control panel may be coupled to other sensor devices, viaa communication loop, one or more gateways and a mesh network, withrelated radio communication.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be illustrated further with reference tothe following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the system of the present invention forcarrying out the method of the present invention;

FIG. 2 shows an example graphical interface used in the presentinvention for identifying devices;

FIGS. 3 through 8 of the drawings illustrate a method of operation ofthe present invention this comprising;

FIG. 3—Step 1 selecting a Fire loop to add the required Sensors/Modules;

FIG. 4—Step 2 identifying Sensor/Modules type to be added to the Firesystem network;

FIG. 5—Step 3 assigning the desired Device address to the particularSensor/Module from the list of available device addresses displayed inthe Device Address assignment window;

FIG. 6—Step 4 repeating step 3 for the devices;

FIG. 7—Step 5 illustrating grayed addresses in the display to indicatethe addresses that are occupied;

FIG. 8—Step 6 a final list of device details along with the Deviceaddress is displayed for the user reference;

FIG. 9—shows a schematic plan, such as derived from a BIM and a usergenerated map, an electronic version of which is preferably displayed onthe graphical user interface; and

FIG. 10—shows a schematic of the system topology in terms ofinterconnections between devices and the central monitoring panel.

In the drawings of the present invention the following features arepresent:

100—System schematic;

110—Plan of region/building floor plan document/plan/digital/physicalbuilding floor plan fire device floor plan;

110′—Schematic plan of region such as BIM file;

120—Control Panel/panel/fire panel;

122—Graphical interface in control panel;

130—Device/peripheral device/fire device/sensor/module;

130′—Collection of example devices, for a fire alarm system, with devicenames/functions suitable for providing addresses and being allocatedpanel addresses as connected on a wired loop 44 or a wireless gateway18;

132—Portion of loop connecting devices to central monitoring panel;

140—Graphical user interface, of the mobile type, such as laptop ortablet type; for communicating with (preferably being insync(ronisation) with) the control panel;

142—Graphical interface, of the mobile type, mobile phone; forcommunicating with (preferably being in sync(ronisation) with) thecontrol panel;

144—interactive screen of graphical user interface showing informationdescribing the system components and their associations from which auser can select associations of devices, with addresses and planlocations on system commissioning for activating the devices to providea functioning alarm system.

244, 344, 444, 644, 744, 844 and 944 show the interactive screen ofgraphical user interface showing at different stages of theactivation/commissioning process.

240—list of generic categories of devices detected by the centralmonitoring panel;

242—generic categories of devices from which a user can select fordisplaying their addresses and status on the main portion of theinterface so as to identify which addresses are associated with devicesin that category;

246—further selector to swap between lists 240 of generic categories ofdevices, such as between sensor devices and output devices, which can betermed modules.

248—Highlighted addresses of sensors which have been allocated to adevice type category 640 and are available to be allocated (activated)to individual devices on the plan—essentially as 648, 748 in theirrespective screens;

250—available addresses of sensors which can be allocated to a devicetype category 240.

340—list of system, topology attached to the central monitoring panel;

342—sub system indicating identify of region in which more specificelement of system topology are located;

346—specific elements of system topology, such as loops or gateways onwhich individual devices are located;

440—list of generic categories of devices detected by the centralmonitoring panel; the associated screen not showing any devicesselected;

442—generic categories of devices from which a user can select fordisplaying their addresses and status on the main portion of theinterface so as to identify which addresses are associated with devicesin that category; as 242 but for a different device;

450—available addresses of sensors which can be allocated to theselected device type category 440;

510—plan co-displayed in the graphical user interface, the plan showinggeographic device locations; a full screen rendition being shown as 110in FIG. 9;

520—the route of wiring for a given loop of the system to which devices530 (=130=130′) are attached in the plan of the region;

530—devices on a loop of the system;

640—list of generic categories of devices detected by the centralmonitoring panel (equivalent to 240, 740 and 840 on their respectivescreens at different points of the commissioning process).

642—generic categories of devices from which a user can select fordisplaying their addresses

648—Highlighted addresses of sensors which have been allocated to adevice type category 640 and are available to be allocated (activated)to individual devices on the plan;

650—available addresses of sensors which can be allocated to theselected device type category;

742—generic categories of devices from which a user can select fordisplaying their addresses;

748—Highlighted addresses of sensors which have been allocated to adevice type category 740 and are available to be allocated (activated)to individual devices on the plan.;

750—available addresses of sensors which can be allocated to theselected device type category;

752—Greyed out addresses of sensors which have been allocated to adevice type category 240 and are blocked from being selected againwhilst the allocation remains in place;

840 through 848—directly analogous to the equivalent 7XX seriesfeatures;

940 through 946—directly analogous to the equivalent 3XX seriesfeatures;

960—summary of information of activated devices on commissioned systemresulting from steps 1 through 5.

The system end product achieved more rapidly and with fewer errors thanif the system of the present invention is not employed on commissioningan alarm system as otherwise know in the art.

Referring now to the figures:

FIG. 1 shows an overview of the system of the present invention forcarrying out the method of the present invention; in which a systemschematic 100 is presented. The schematic shows the key elements of thealarm system of the present invention. The main physical components ofthe invention are a central monitoring panel 120 which is connected toone or more devices 130 by means of a wired 132 and/or wirelessconnection in a conventional manner such that the inputs and outputs ofthe devices 130 are in communication with the central control panel 120so as to operate in the conventional manner of an alarm system. Theschematic shows only a single device 130 but the benefits of theinvention are most evident when a plurality of devices are present, suchas 8 or more devices. The central control panel 120 comprises agraphical interface 122 for providing information. Either this graphicalinterface or, preferably an external graphical interface 140 in the formof a portable computer such as a laptop, tablet or mobile phone 142 isprovided. The central control panel 120 comprises processing means forprocessing signals and information of the system and when preferablyconnected to the additional graphical user interface 140 that interfacewill also comprise processing means for processing the organisationalsetup of the alarm system. The organisational setup of the alarm systemis made during the commissioning phase of the alarm system and thisserves to associate the individual sources of information in the systeminto a coherent pattern of information for effective use of the alarmsystem information, such as in the triggering of an alarm. The keyelements of the commissioning are the availability of a plan, such as afloor plan 110′ which shows the location of the devices 130 and anyrelevant wiring 132 which indicates which loops or wireless networks thedevices are connected to. The plan also preferably comprises informationas to the type of devices, such as smoke detectors, and also preferablycomprises address information of the devices 130. For example, thedevice may comprise a multidigit address. Such addresses have limitedsemantic content of use to a human user is associating these addresseswith functions in the control panel 120 so that they may be activated,i.e. the control panel recognises and communicates with them in ameaningful way according to their function and that the control panel,as part of the commissioning process, and the key functionality of thepresent invention allocates to these devices 130 designations, such as aone or two digit decimal number (248, 648, 748) to enable them to bemore easily identified and optionally allows the user to providealphanumeric descriptors of individual devices, such as ‘control roomsmoke alarm’. This greatly reduces the cognitive burden on the user ofthe alarm system and avoids common problems such as mis-recognising themeaning of signals in the system. The system of the present inventionalso does not permit multiple uses of the same address for a given partof the system topology. This avoids the time-consuming problem ofresolving duplicate addressing and the possible danger and confusion ofa device status indicating an alarm condition in multiple locations ifthe fault is not discovered during commissioning.

In use, the commissioning engineer uses the graphical interface 140, 142(or 122) and this interface has the appearance shown in the variousfigures, indicated in the schematic as class 144 and in the furtherfigures as specific instances 244, 344, 444 et cetera. In a preferredembodiment of the invention the graphical interface is portable 140,separate from the central control panel 120 and this enables thecommissioning engineer to walk round a region in which the alarm systemis installed, the system is then configured so that when a device isactivated, such as locally by the commissioning engineer, theassociations present with status information coming from that addressare illustrated in the graphical interface 140, 122. The graphicalinterface very preferably also comprises a digital representation of theplan 110 and from this the commissioning engineer can immediately see ifthe physical location surroundings corresponds to that of the plan andthe type and number of devices present on the plan in that location andwhether the device information being sent to the central control panel120 is an association with the correct type of device 240, 242 andwhether it has been activated in the system by being allocated a systemdevice address 248. If not, that association can then be quickly andreadily made. This is a great improvement on current systems where thecommissioning engineer would normally be limited to the physicallocation of the central control panel 120 and would require a colleagueto be present next to devices so as to activate them. This, along withthe attendant communication problems, greatly increases the time andeffort required in the commissioning process and increases thelikelihood of double address faults and overlooked devices. The systemalso provides a much-enhanced opportunity for the commissioning engineerto provide a meaningful description of a given device 130 in the alarmsystem 100. Since the commissioning engineer could be standing in, say,a conference room, have activated a device and seen that devicehighlighted in the graphical user interface, the commissioning engineercan then allocate an address and therefore activate that device as afunctional part of the system but at the same time can give it ameaningful descriptor, such as ‘heat alarm, central ceiling position inconference room’ or other alphanumeric text. This rapidly identifieserrors in the original plan 110, changes in the originally plannedlocation of devices 120 made during installation and thus enablescapture of subjective information which only the commissioning engineerwould readily be able to identify from their experience in the systemthis greatly facilitates the capture this information such that infurther system use and maintenance a large amount of time can be savedby knowing the correct descriptors and locations of devices. Whilst thiscan also be achieved manually without the present system it would takefar more time and effort and be more prone to mistakes. As will beunderstood, the use of a mobile graphical interface 140/142 clearlybenefits from the preferred presence of location measuring equipment,such as GPS et cetera as part of the interface 140/142 and associatedsoftware so as to indicate on the plan 110 where that device is locatedat a given time. Thus, if the mobile graphical interface 140/142 depictson a plan 110, 510 the assumed location of the commissioning engineer ina first room but highlighting activation of an activated device in asecond room, then it is immediately evident the device address has notbeen correctly assigned. The address can be reassigned to the room inwhich the commissioning engineer has prompted the device 130 tocommunicate with the central control panel 120.

The process of device Address Assignment can be better understood withreference to the following information regarding the screen displayshown in FIGS. 2 through 8. These figures refer to a fire panel and afire alarm system but it will be understood that the principles can beapplicable to other alarm system types, such as a security alarm system.

Upon selecting a particular Loop in a control panel 120 such as in theform of a Fire Panel in the Configuration tool (i.e. the method ofcommissioning), with interface 144 (otherwise the system of the presentinvention), the tool automatically displays an Intuitive AddressAssignment Window (244) that contains a list of available (250)/occupied(248) device addresses that can be assigned to a particular set of FireDevices (242). The commissioning engineer may then assign the desiredaddresses to the corresponding fire devices on the Configuration tool bymanually reviewing a physical plan, such as a paper map, by reviewing anelectronic BIM or preferably by being physically present in a givenlocation and having the plan shown on the graphical user interface withthe geographic location of the device 140 shown on that plan.

The convention shown on the system 100, with interface 144 displayed ongraphical interface 128/140/142 is that: the device addresseshighlighted in Gray (252) signifies device address isUnavailable/Occupied:

-   -   the device addresses highlighted in Blue (darker grey in the        figure, 248) indicates the Selected address for the current fire        device (130) (Sensor/Module): and    -   the device addresses with no highlight (250) indicates Available        addresses, i.e. addresses which may be allocated to a given        device so as to activate the device in the system, that is to        bring the device into functional communication with other parts        of the system, such as linking its output to a requirement to        initiate an alarm siren or notify a remote-control room or user        of an alarm.

During use of the system, the commissioning engineer (i.e. the systemuser) has an option to change the address associated with a fire deviceby de-selecting the assigned address and re-selecting a differentavailable device address. The commissioning engineer has an option toprovide additional information (for example label information)preferably in the form of an alphanumeric string for the fire device. Agroup of devices detected can be assigned to a particular zone as perthe commissioning engineer choice. Zones are selected from topologicalelements of the system. That is the devices highlighted are assigned toa part of the system topology as illustrated in FIG. 3. The process isrepeatable, and is preferably repeated, until each of the devices on theFire device floor plan is assigned with a Device address (248).

FIG. 2 shows an example interactive screen 144 of the graphicalinterface 122 of the control panel 120 and/or preferably the mobiledevice graphical interface 140/142 140 used in the present invention foridentifying devices; alarm systems are complex and typicallyinstallation is preplanned and the number of loops and devices is knownahead of time so that a system topology is already made available to thecommissioning engineer from the notes of the installation engineer (whocould be the same person). Hence, the first step, Step 1 FIG. 3 is:

Download Panel Configuration information such as assembled by aninstallation engineer to the Fire Panel. The Panel Configurationsoftware (i.e. software to carry out the method of the invention) candownload the Panel configuration information (.cfg or .bin file) to theFire Panel using ISOM/Proprietary protocols. Similarly, thecommunication protocol, such as an established Wi-Fi interface tointerface between the central control panel 120 and an external mobilegraphical user interface device 140/142 will be set up in theconventional manner.

A method of Operation of the present invention provides an initial “AddDevices” screen of the interactive screen of the graphical userinterface is shown in FIG. 4. The interactive screen 444 shows devicetype options, such as sensors or modules which can be chosen between,and for a given device type, (shown in this example as “sensors”), alist 440 of the relevant devices is provided, each device being listedby name 442. The main part of the screen shows available deviceaddresses 450, and the plan 110 is shown in a sub- window, preferablyoverlaid on the main screen, which shows the positions of the devices530 and their interconnections 520. The commissioning engineer cantherefore readily associate a given device on a given loop (selectedseparately in FIG. 3) with a given address 450 so as to activate thedevice 530 in the system and to preferably provide a descriptor for thedevice. The disparate pieces of information of the geographic location,type of device, and device address in the central monitoring panel 120are therefore readily associated thus saving much time and effort forthe commissioning engineer. In a preferable feature of the invention adevice 530 is activated by the engineer in possession of a portablegraphical interface 140/142, which communicates its position to thesystem 100, and the system 100 displays the position on the plan 510. Inconjunction with this the user, such as the commissioning engineer thenhas the capability of activating a given device, such as a smoke alarm.This will serve to highlight or otherwise identify the type of device442 to the system and, if it has been activated, the address of thedevice 248. Importantly if not activated then the commissioning engineercan readily cross-reference information and/or establish an activationfor the device by using the interactive screen 144 of the graphical userinterface 122 (where the highlight of the device may be displayed), orpreferably its mobile equivalent 140/142 (where the highlight of thedevice may be displayed), and which provides user communication with thecentral control panel 120. After commissioning, the graphical userinterface if a separate mobile entity (rather than 120) will normally bedecoupled from the central monitoring panel 120, and the alarm systemconfiguration achieved by the system of the present invention 100 willthen be resident in the alarm system for future use—i.e. the systemwould have been commissioned.

Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 8 these show steps in use of theinteractive screen 144 of the graphical user interface.

Step 1 is shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 shows a system “Topology” 340 interactive screen 344 which istypically pre-populated by the installation engineer with information asto the region protected by a given part 342 of the system and has itsactual connection format or a list of available connection formats 346from which the commissioning engineer can then activate devices. In thisinstance the Commissioning Engineer selects a Fire loop to add therequired Sensors/Modules and clicks Add Device button so as to move tothe screen shown in FIG. 4.

Step 2 is shown in FIG. 4.

The commissioning engineer clicks on the Sensor/Modules device type tobe added to the Fire system network (ex: Heat Detector Rate of Rise) byreferring to the digital/physical Fire system network floor plan 110,110′ with Device type, address and label information marked on it. Thisassociation may involve the GPS positioning mentioned previously, whichmay be carried out by the commissioning engineer as facilitated by thecompilation information, as mentioned above, provided by the system onthe interactive screen 144.

Step 3 is shown in FIG. 5.

Based on the floor plan 110 the commissioning engineer assigns thedesired Device address 648 (c.f. 248 etc.) to the particularSensor/Module from the list of available device addresses (450, 650)displayed in the Device Address Assignment window 644 by clicking on theavailable addresses 650. Upon selection the device address ishighlighted in Blue 648 to indicate the Device address selection, thesystem then activating the device by incorporating this association intothe functioning of the alarm system so that the device may carry out itsnormal function, such as signaling smoke detection, in a normal mannerof an alarm system.

Step 4 is shown in FIG. 6.

The device address assignment is repeated in a fresh screen 744 in areiteration of a previous screen, such as 244, both being developmentsof a clean initial screen 444. The assignment is repeated for otherSensors or Modules which are devices 130 of the system. In eachiteration the type of device sensor/module 740 is selected and fromthese the device type 742 is selected and individual available devices,(here the wireless optical smoke detector type) is selected. Theseoptions are preferably supplied by the Fire Control panel software andmade available 742 to be queried using the configuration tool. They maybe pre-populated by the installation engineer, or simply the list ofpossible options are presented in a further list 742.

Step 5 is shown in FIG. 7.

The grayed addresses in FIG. 7 indicate the addresses that are occupied(i.e. assigned to other devices). The selections will have been made inprevious iterations of the commissioning process, such as shown in FIG.6. The Commissioning Engineer can hover on the Grayed address items formore information, this additional information is preferably thealphanumeric descriptors mentioned previously which provide meaningfulinformation to a human user.

Step 6 is shown in FIG. 8.

The Commissioning Engineer selects the command button “Done” to finishthe Device address assignment process. The final list of device detailsalong with the Device addresses is displayed for the user's reference.

The system and method of the present invention provides IntuitiveAddress Assignment by means of the interactive screen of the graphicaluser interface to quickly assign the desired addresses to a set ofdevices on a loop. Based on this information the Commissioning Engineercan quickly commission an entire Zone/Area (i.e. parts of the topology,such as loops and radio systems) in a building in a matter of minutes,thereby providing a quicker way to commission a site which otherwisewould have taken hours/days.

Further, the system and method of the present invention eliminates thesituations leading to a duplicate address being assigned to a firedevice (Double Address Faults) as the tool (the interactive screen thegraphical user interface) displays only those addresses which areavailable to be assigned in the fire network system. This also preventsa single address from being assigned to two different devices.

FIG. 9 shows a schematic plan 110′, such as derived from a buildinginformation model (BIM model), and a user generated map 110, anelectronic version of which 510 is preferably displayed on the graphicaluser interface. The plan 110, which can be reduced to a schematic 110′for easier display, comprises the location in the region of the alarmsystem of the devices 130, 130″, 130″′ and the interconnections 132,132′, so that the commissioning engineer can understand the topology ofthe system, for example specifically which loop a given device isconnected to. This facilitates the allocation of device addresses in theactivation steps, and the generation of meaningful alphanumericidentifiers for given devices. In a preferred feature of the presentinvention, on activation of a given device 130 the plan in electronicform highlights that device, for example by turning the depiction of thedevice from one form of an icon to another, such as from a black circleto a flashing red dot. In a preferred feature of the present invention,the current physical location of the mobile device 140 of the graphicaluser interface 140/142 is also depicted on the plan 110, 510 by means ofa suitable icon, such as an icon of a person meant to represent thecommissioning engineer holding the graphical user interface 142 (or140).

FIG. 10 shows a schematic of the system topology in terms ofinterconnections between devices and the central monitoring panel. Thisschematic is what is represented in the plan 110, 510 in terms of aspecific geographical location in a region of space, such as inside abuilding. This shows the connection format of communications between thedevices 16-X, 18-X, 22-X (X being a single digit), the communicationsbeing in the form of a conventional wire loop (left-hand side) connectedto the central monitoring panel 120 and/or wireless devices 14-X, 20-X,which is identified in the relevant interactive screen 344, 944 of thesystem by means of topology descriptors 346 describing the connectionformat.

More specifically, FIG. 10 is a simplified block diagram of a securitysystem or more particularly a fire detection system 130′ relevant forthe interactive screen 144 and other parts of the illustrated system 100and in which the device(s) 130 of FIG. 1 are shown in expanded form in130′. Included within the system may be a number of fire sensor devices14, 16 used to detect threats such as from fire within the region. Thefire input devices may be scattered throughout the secured area and mayeach include a fire detector that operates to detect fire by sensing anyone or more of a number of different fire-related parameters (e.g.,smoke, carbon monoxide, heat, etc.) and a manual call point. The firesystem may also include a number of different warning devices 20, 22intended to be activated in the event of fire to warn people within thesecured area. The warning devices may be any type of audio and/or visualdevice that attracts attention and announces the existence of a fire.All these types of devices are intended to be used in the system of thepresent invention, by activating these devices within the alarm systemcentral monitoring panel 120. For completeness, where output devices arepresent in the system of the present invention, a feature is provided inthe interactive screen by which the user can activate it, such as tobriefly sound an alarm, so that the commissioning engineer can bothcheck that the alarm is functioning and also activate it within thesystem and preferably give it a meaningful alphanumeric descriptor.

Included within the control monitoring panel 120 may be one or moreprocessor apparatus (processors), each operating under control of one ormore computer programs loaded from a non-transient computer readablemedium (memory) 32. As used herein, reference to a step performed by acomputer program is also reference to the processor that executed thatstep. In this regard, an alarm processor within the control panel maymonitor a status of each of the input devices. Upon detecting activationof any of the inputs, the alarm processor may activate one or more ofthe warning devices and send an alarm message to the central monitoringstation.

In this regard, the gateways 18 may operate to translate device coding(e.g., addresses) from a radio frequency (RF) protocol used within theradio domain to a loop protocol that, in turn, incorporatescommunication loop addresses recognized by the control panel on thecommunication loop. In this regard, the protocol used by the meshnetwork may be based upon any of a number of different RF protocols(e.g., the Cascading Wave Communication protocol developed by Honeywell,Inc.). Such a mesh forms a communication network based upon a series ofparent/child relationships. The basic network element is called a nodeand the network root element (node 0) is referred to as the gateway ormaster node 18. Each node can be connected to geographically adjacentnodes via full duplex links, so that each device is able to managecommunications in the direction of both network boundaries (e.g., fromits children to the root and vice versa).

A particular advantage of the present invention is that since in awireless system the physical location of devices 130 may not beimmediately evident, for example an installation engineer may haveaccidentally swapped over the position of two devices of the same type,for example the only difference between two devices being a multidigitidentifier in a communications header on installation compared to whatis presented in a the plan. The present invention readily allows thecorrect addressing and hence correct activation in the system of a givendevice 130 even were wireless communication removes a physical linkbetween the device 113 and the control panel 120, hence, the ability forthe system to allow the graphical user interface 140/142 to roam withinthe region, activate devices, see them highlighted on the plan 510 o theinterfaces 144 means that the link between physical location andincoming signal; to the system can be readily correlated and a devicesactivated in the system carrying correct geographic identifiersinformation. This ability is preferably enabled throughout the system ofthe present invention by the user's mobile device 140 of the graphicaluser interface 140/142 being in radio communication with the centralmonitoring panel 120 for the purposes of communicating informationdescribed herein.

The present invention has been described by means of a number of figuresand in these the numbering has been used in a systematic manner suchthat, for example, when referring to interactive screen 144 this impliesthat the similar interactive screens 244, 344 to X44 are also relevant.This should be borne in mind when only one of those references is used,when in fact in many instances a number of references have the samemeaning as derived from context.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An alarm commissioning system for an alarmsystem installed in a region to be monitored, the alarm commissioningsystem, comprising: a graphical interface device for displayinginformation on a display thereon, the alarm system having a plurality ofalarm system devices, wherein each alarm system device is located at adifferent location within the region, each of the alarm system devicesbeing identified by a different unique device identifier, wherein thepositions of the alarm system devices in the region are provided on aplan displayed on the display of the graphical interface device; whereinthe graphical interface device display is configured to provide adisplay of the alarm system devices, and is further configured to enablea user to associate the alarm system devices with the positions of alarmsystem devices on the plan so as to activate the functionality of eachdevice in the alarm system by allocating a respective unique systemaddress to each respective alarm system device using the display;wherein the graphical interface device is a mobile graphical interfacedevice and is equipped with a positioning system to identify ageographic position of the mobile graphical interface device in theregion, and wherein the geographic position of the mobile graphicalinterface device is displayed on the plan; and wherein allocating uniquesystem addresses to the respective alarm system devices includesincorporating a link to the location of each alarm system device on theplan such that the status of activated alarm system devices isconfigured to be displayed on the plan to provide a user with a locationin the region of the alarm system.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theidentity and address of any alarm system device that has been previouslyactivated is no longer available and is shown as being no longeravailable for future activation.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein thedisplay provides one or more lists of types of alarm system devicesavailable and device addresses available and enables the user toassociate a particular alarm system device with a particular address. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the plan is configured to be displayed onthe graphical interface in conjunction with the display to enable a userto associate a particular position on the plan with a particular deviceidentifier.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the graphical interface isin radio communication with a control panel of the alarm system and isequipped with a positioning system to identify the geographic positionof the mobile graphical interface device in the region, and wherein thegeographic position of the mobile graphical interface device isdisplayed on the plan.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the system isconfigured such that when a user activates a device of the alarm systemthe position of the graphical interface device is taken as thegeographical position of the nearest device and the address communicatedby that alarm system device is taken as the address of the alarm systemdevice at that geographical position.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe user is prompted to confirm activation of an automatically detectedalarm system device.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the display showsthe communication status of the alarm system devices.
 9. A method ofoperating an alarm system installed in a region to be monitored, themethod comprising: providing a graphical interface device for displayinginformation, identifying a plurality of alarm system devices, each alarmsystem device located at a different location within the region, by adifferent unique device identifier; displaying the positions of thealarm system devices in the region on a plan displayed on a display ofthe graphical interface device; wherein the graphical interface devicedisplay is configured to provide: a display of the alarm system devices,and is further configured to enable a user to associate the alarm systemdevices with the positions of devices on the plan so as to activate thefunctionality of each device in the alarm system by allocating arespective unique system address to each respective alarm system deviceusing the display; wherein the graphical interface device is a mobilegraphical interface device and is equipped with a positioning system toidentify a geographic position of the mobile graphical interface devicein the region, and wherein the geographic position of the mobilegraphical interface device is displayed on the plan; and wherein theplan is displayed on the display and the user can drag and drop a deviceicon from the plan to one of the available addresses on the display toactivate the device functionality in the system, to allocate the addressto the device and to incorporate a link to the plan location with theaddress.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: providing systemtopology subdivisions on the display of the graphical interface devicesuch that for different topological subdivisions device addresses can beduplicated whilst the device retains a system wide unique identifier.11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: providing system topologysubdivisions on the interactive screen such that for differenttopological system loops, device addresses can be duplicated whilst thedevice retains a system wide unique identifier.
 12. The method of claim9, wherein disabled addresses are shown on the display of the graphicalinterface device and displays details of the activated device to whichthey have been allocated.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein theposition of the graphical interface device is shown on the plan and anyactivation of an alarm system device at that location serves toautomatically associate the activated device with a selected systemaddress.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein a communication status ofthe activated device is depicted on the plan at the relevant location.15. A graphical interface device for use with an alarm system installedin a region to be monitored, the graphical interface device, comprising:a display for displaying information on the graphical interface device,wherein the alarm system has a plurality of alarm system devices, thealarm system devices being in a plurality of locations in the region,each of the alarm system devices being identified by a unique deviceidentifier, the identifiers provided on the graphical interface device;and wherein the positions of the alarm system devices in the region areprovided on a plan on the display of the graphical interface device;wherein the display is configured to provide a display of the devicesand being further configured to enable a user to associate devices withthe positions of devices on the plan so as to activate the functionalityof each device in the alarm system by allocating a respective uniquesystem address to each respective device using the display; wherein thegraphical interface device is a mobile graphical interface device and isequipped with a positioning system to identify a geographic position ofthe mobile graphical interface device in the region, and wherein thegeographic position of the graphical interface device is displayed onthe plan provided on the graphical interface device; and whereinallocating unique system addresses to the respective alarm systemdevices includes incorporating a link to the location of each alarmsystem device on the plan such that the status of activated alarm systemdevices is configured to be displayed on the plan to provide a user witha location in the region of the alarm system.
 16. The graphicalinterface device of claim 15, wherein a user is prompted to inputfurther device identifier information of a particular one of theplurality of the alarm system devices.
 17. The graphical interfacedevice of claim 15, wherein a user is prompted to input topologicalassociations of a particular one of the plurality of the alarm systemdevices.
 18. The graphical interface device of claim 15, whereindisabled addresses are shown on the display of the graphical interfaceand displays details of the activated device to which they have beenallocated when selected.